Thesis (Ph. D.)--Drexel University, 2003. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 186-191).

The first instability of circular tubes compressed into the plastic range is axisymmetric wrinkling, which is stable. Compressed further the wrinkle amplitude grows, leading to a limit load instability followed by collapse. The two instabilities can be separated by strain levels of a few percent. This work investigates whether a tube that develops small amplitude wrinkles can be subsequently collapsed by persistent cycling. The problem was first investigated experimentally using SAF 2507 super-duplex steel tubes with D/t of 28.5. The tubes are first compressed to strain levels high enough for mild wrinkles to form and then cycled axially under stress control about a compressive mean stress. This type of cycling usually results in accumulation of compressive strain; here it is accompanied by growth of the amplitude of the initial wrinkles. The tube average strain initially grows nearly linearly with the number of cycles, but as a critical value of wrinkle amplitude is approached, wrinkling localizes, the rate of ratcheting grows exponentially and the tube collapses. Similar experiments were then performed for tubes involving axial cycling under internal pressure and the combined loads cause simultaneous ratcheting in the hoop and axial directions as well as a gradual growth of the wrinkles. The rate of ratcheting and the number of cycles to collapse depend on the initial compressive pre-strain, the internal pressure, and the stress cycle parameters all of which were varied sufficiently to generate vii a sufficient data base. Interestingly, in both the pressurized and unpressurized cases collapse was found to occur when the accumulated average strain reaches the value at which the tube localizes under monotonic compression. A custom shell model of the tube with initial axisymmetric imperfections, coupled to the Dafalias-Popov two-surface nonlinear kinematic hardening model, are presented and used to simulate the experiments performed. It is demonstrated that when suitably calibrated this modeling framework reproduces the prevalent ratcheting deformations and the evolution of wrinkling including the conditions at collapse accurately for all experiments. The calibrated model is then used to evaluate the ratcheting behavior of pipes under thermal-pressure cyclic loading histories experienced by axially restrained pipelines. / text

Offshore pipelines are susceptible to the damage that leads to local collapse. If the ambient pressure is sufficiently high, local collapse can initiate a buckle that propagates at high velocity catastrophically destroying the pipeline. Buckle arrestors are circumferential local stiffeners that are placed periodically along the length of the pipeline. When properly designed, they arrest an incoming buckle thus limiting the damage to the structure to the distance between two adjacent arrestors. Slip-on type buckle arrestors are tight-fitting rings placed over the pipe. They are relatively easy to install and do not require welding. As a result they have been widely used in shallow waters. It has been known that such devices often cannot reach higher levels of arresting efficiency. The somewhat deficient performance is due to the fact that a buckle can penetrate such devices via a folded-up U-mode at pressures that are lower than the collapse pressure of the intact pipe. Because of this they have not seen extensive use in deeper waters. The aim of this study is to quantify the limits in arresting performance of slip-on buckle arrestors in order to enable expanded use in pipelines installed in moderately deep and deep waters. The performance of slip-on buckle arrestors is studied through a combination of experiments and analysis. The study concentrates on pipes with lower D/t values (18-35) suitable for moderately deep and deep waters. The arresting efficiency is studied parametrically through experiments and full scale numerical simulations. The results are used to generate an empirical design formula for the efficiency as a function of the pipe and arrestor geometric and mechanical properties. The performance of slip-on arrestors is shown to be bounded by the socalled the confined propagation pressure. That is the lowest pressure that U-mode pipe collapse propagates inside a rigid circular cavity. Therefore, a quantitative study of this critical pressure is undertaken using experiments and numerical simulations. A new expression relating this critical pressure to the material and geometric parameters of the liner pipe is developed. This in turn is used to develop quantitative limits for the efficiency of slip-on buckle arrestors.

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Herein is contained details of a comprehensive finite element survey and experimental investigation into the buckling and postbuckling characteristics of thin laminated square Carbon-Epoxy panels with various cutout geometries, subjected to uniaxial compression. The plate edges are considered to be fully fixed with constant edge displacement loading. The panels were quasi isotropic in nature with a stacking sequence of (0/90/±45)2,. Square, circular and elliptical centrally located cutouts were considered with cutout dimension/panel widths ranging from 0.1 to 0.7 in increments of 0.1. Eccentrically located circular and square cutouts were considered for cutout dimension/panel width ratios ranging from 0.1 to 0.4 with vertical and horizontal eccentricity varying from 0 to 20% of the panels width. Multiple circular cutouts with cutout dimension/panel width ranging from 0 to 0.3 with separation distance/panel width ratios ranging from 0.2 to 0.65. A finite element eigenvalue analysis was adopted to determine the critical buckling loads and buckle mode shapes for the panels. The postbuckling response of the panels were investigated by adopting a non-linear finite element analysis approach using an Incremental Newton-Raphson Iterative solution scheme. A limited experimental test programme was undertaken to act as verification to the finite element solutions. A purpose built buckling rig was designed and manufactured for the purposes of the tests. It has been confirmed that the critical buckling loads for centrally located circular and square cutouts initially reduces as the cutout size increases. After reaching a minimum value it thereafter increases with large cutout sizes, the exact changeover point being dependant upon the shape of the cutout. The orientation of ellipse major axis significantly affects the critical buckling load of a panel. A horizontally aligned ellipse exhibits similar behaviour as that to a circular or square cutout. However when the major axis is rotated relative to the horizontal axis its buckling capacity reduces monotonically till it has a buckling load less than that for an unperforated panel when vertical aligned. It has been shown when a circular cutout is eccentrically placed in a panel, for small cutout sizes the buckling load reduces with horizontal eccentricity while a small increase is experienced for vertical eccentricity. Multiple circular cutouts significantly reduce the buckling capacity of the panel for all cutout sizes and separation distances. Initial geometric imperfection in the panel does not affect the critical buckling load significantly. The postbuckled response of such panels are also insensitive to the magnitude of imperfection. Panels with circular, square and elliptical cutouts exhibit substantial postbuckled strength. The post buckling response of such panels are insensitive to cutout geometry shape.

The stability bracing behavior of trusses was investigated using experimental testing and computational modeling. The laboratory experiments were conducted on twin trusses fabricated with W4x13 sections for the chord and web members. Spans of 48 and 72 feet were used in the tests that included both lateral load tests and buckling tests. Most of the tests were done on the regular (Howe) truss, except the lateral stiffness tests which were also done on the inverted (Pratt) truss. Computational models were developed using the three-dimensional finite element program, ANSYS, which were validated using the laboratory test data. A variety of models were used to simulate both as-built and idealized truss models. The experiments demonstrated that the buckling capacity of the truss with torsional bracing largely depended on the brace stiffness and the number of intermediate braces. Similar behavior was observed in the truss with lateral bracing. The tests results demonstrated that cross sectional distortion dramatically reduces the effectiveness of the torsional braces. The experiments provided valuable data for validating the finite element models that were used to conduct parametric studies on torsional bracing of truss systems. The results from the parametric studies were used to develop stiffness requirements for torsional bracing of trusses. / text

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